Not gonna be able to be brought up to current habitable space code standards without gutting and redoing it completely. The foundation needs to be inspected to see if it’s legal first thing. Or you may just have to do a teardown and rebuild. 60-60K budget, unless you have to do a teardown. With permits and inspections, and done legally. No kitchen st all, unless your home is zoned two family. Done illegally, you can expect fines and to have to rip it all out.

I completely disagree. It is obviously currently a habitable space, because it's being sold as is right now--without any issues coming up on the deed or survey or anything else, which would happen if the work wasn't permitted in the first place. And even if it wasn't there is no way of knowing from these photos that it needs to be gutted etc. What nonsense. (It is also nonsense that if the work was done un-permitted, it will be torn out. In some places that may happen; in other places it does not.)

It is also not true that unless you're zoned for two-family you can't have a kitchen, per se. It depends on what you want there. In my city, they don't care about, say, a kitchenette (like, just a sink, fridge, and microwave, or just a fridge and oven, or whatever). Find out what the laws are specifically in your city, and don't listen to *anyone* who airily tells you you can't do something to your own property without looking into it yourself. I had a contractor tell me I "would not be allowed to convert [my] garage," because of zoning laws requiring covered parking. I immediately sent him a screenshot of the part of that code that specifically exempts my home (that law only applies to homes built after 1975, and mine was built in '64). (And frankly, even if it didn't, I can do whatever I like to the inside of my home; they can't force me to park my car in the garage.) That contractor lost my business, obviously. Your fridge/microwave kitchenette is almost guaranteed to be fine; people are allowed to have more than one fridge and microwave in their homes. As long as it's not a full kitchen, you should be okay (and again, who's gonna know? When you move, you take the fridge/microwave with you, if it's a problem).

The solar powered lights are powered by the sun, which is probably why they're not very bright--they're meant to be hung in full sunlight (unless by "solar powered" you mean you have a solar panel on the roof and the lights are powered from it). That might also mean there's no outlets or wires for new lights. You'll probably want to call an electrician and ask for an estimate to install some outlets and lights. Mine does "journeyman" work like that at $75/hr, which I think is fairly typical.

I LOVE the look of fairy lights or lanterns all across the ceiling! We're going to do that to our back porch once we get it screened in, too! You could buy a bunch of little white cup hooks to string the lights on; just screw them into the ceiling. Since they're not holding any real weight, you don't need to worry about where the beams etc. are (if you're doing anything heavier than fairy lights, though, do check). I plan to buy one of those grids of lights, you know, the kind they sell to drape over bushes and such? I'll get one or two of those and string them up using those small hooks; you can get like 20 hooks for a couple of bucks at any hardware store.

Stucco generally paints pretty easily, IMO. Our house in FL was stucco and we didn't have any problems painting it. As for installing shiplap, we also had to install hurricane shutters in our house and you want a GOOD drill for that kind of work! I've never installed shiplap (hoping to in our bedroom soon) but I can't imagine it's too difficult...as long as you have a good powerful drill and some strong titanium bits.

As for making it all look more bright and clean...I prefer yellow to white, because I think it's more cheerful--not saying you need to paint the walls that color, just when it comes to accent colors or maybe moldings and trim (I also love shiplap! Any color. I wonder if doing weathered wood might make the rest of the room look brighter and cleaner in comparison?). Just make sure if you do yellow that it's a buttery or bright sort of yellow, not a really pale one that can look like dirty white. That will look really nice with the pale woods, and maybe a light duck-egg blue or spring green as well? I was just talking about my old kitchen, which had pale spring green walls (spring green with a touch of olive, just a touch, to keep it from being too Easter-egg-y) and white cabinets with bright yellow doors. To keep the room from being too pastel, I painted the countertop a cool blue-gray, a darker shade but not *super* dark; it was a mid-tone color, I guess. Something like Sherwin-Williams "Endless Sea." https://www.sherwin-williams.com/homeowners/color/find-and-explore-colors/paint-colors-by-family/SW9150-endless-sea#/9150/?s=colorDetails&p=PS0  I got *tons* of compliments on the room; people really loved it (as did I). It had pale, beech-toned wood laminate floors, as well.

And maybe add some glass accessories? Some light-colored curtains? Those ceilings *definitely* need to be painted, I agree. And a couple of cheerful area rugs are always nice.

I think it's a really neat little space. Please keep us posted with pictures etc.--I'd love to see how it goes!

Amateurs should refrain from responding in regards to technical questions. Stick to recommending paint colors that won’t look the same in person as they do on the monitor.

You will need permits and inspections as a porch is held to different standards than interior space. Kitchens mean the space is considered a second residence, and that’s prohibited to keep people from renting out space. Illegal remodels will cost you far more in the end.

If it's heated and insulated you're good to go. If not, I would abandon the idea.

I would not recommend doing anything to the stucco beyond painting it. Attaching anything substantial to it requires precise stud location and careful masonry drilling and screwing.

Outlets, lights and switches can be carefully added using decorative conduit, which is expensive, but cheaper than opening and reclosing walls. Consult with an electrician who has specific experience with conduit on stucco. Probably will need to add its own circuit.

No problem adding a fridge and micro. Maybe the "PRO" can't tell the difference between "kitchen" and "kitchenette", but we can.

I would also add that many people have kitchen type facilities in their basements without it violating zoning laws.

Without knowing OP's intent, why speculate as setting up a guest room with limited kitchen facilities is not necessarily intended for commercial purposes - if in-laws come for extended stays, a small kitchen is a nice touch as it would be if a child is returning home after college - which is not an unusual scenario in today's economy.

The bedroom is already in place which means the bedroom is habitable I am assuming which means that the enclosed porch is a gray area in terms of how a homeowner can make use of space - certainly one is allowed to put couches and chairs in.

However, it does appear that electricity is limited which would certainly be a question for a licensed electrician and making sure that any electricity added is up to Code and safe since it is unclear how the place is wired and how it could be safely upgraded.

ETA - Regarding electrical overhead, I think an electrician would be extremely helpful. I am currently remodeling my condo which has limited overhead lighting and a cement ceiling so overhead lighting is not easily added. I know in discussions with my GC, designer and the electrician doing the work, that they are installing some kind of connections which name escapes me - and of course there is always track lighting as the simplest solution.

ETA - And if we are going on in the subject (sorry OP LOL) it just occurred to me that people create small kitchens in their master bedrooms with refrigerator, microwave, coffee bar without it being deemed a non-permitted second kitchen :-)

Yes, exactly. Sorry, Bethany, I didn't mean to derail at all. I just also don't want you being discouraged, and I don't appreciate being insulted.

Have you considered replacing the current outside door with a French-style door? Those extra glass panels will let in more light, and I think those doors always look so pretty and welcoming. (I'm planning to replace the sliding glass doors in my kitchen with a single French-style glass-panel door myself.)

Are you planning to put a TV in there? I always like to have a TV for my guest rooms; it encourages guests to take some time for themselves a bit, and it's just a nice amenity to have (sometimes I'll go hang out in there and watch something on my own, as well, so my kids can have the main TV). Or maybe a bookshelf, in a bright or light neutral color?

For the kitchenette, you can buy unfinished cabinets, already made, at any HD/Lowes. I'd paint those white (or bright) to lighten up that nook some. Or hunt around at second-hand/surplus stores and find, say, a vanity that fits that space; build a countertop out of wood slabs--surprisingly easy!--and give it a couple of coats of acrylic or polyurethane. (When my parents converted our basement and added a kitchenette, my dad cut and finished a wood door to use as a countertop, which worked really well.) You could install a "rail" around the space to set the countertop on, with just a couple of 2x4s; then you won't have to worry about attaching it to the cabinets etc. below. Or paint it whatever color you use as your secondary--you don't really need full-on kitchen cabinets there if there's not going to be a lot of cooking going on, and vanities often have more interesting fronts and details than kitchen cabinets. (I know someone who used an old dresser for their kitchenette, actually, and painted all the drawers different cheerful colors; it looked really cute, and they just put melamine plates/cups/etc. and a few snack items in the drawers, and filled the other drawers with linens and things. Your minifridge can fit under that countertop as well, so it has a nice cohesive look, and if you get a flat-front one you could use construction adhesive to glue a panel front to it, for more color and cheer. Or use a spraypaint made for metal, in any color you like! Above it, maybe a nice beachy picture in a white frame? Something to bring a little more interest into that little recess--shelves are good, too, of course.

Oh! And in our previous guest room, we made a little feature out of the mantel (it had a small non-working fireplace) using a string of fairy lights with glass beads etc. attached to it, and some votive candle holders (I basically just wound the lights around the candle holders). When the lights were plugged in and the candles lit, it looked really lovely--and much more expensive than the $15 or so I paid in total for the lights and holders. You can get battery-operated lights to use until your outlets are installed.

And speaking of lights, are you planning to put in regular floor or table lamps as well as the ceiling lights?

I also think you should paint the trim a nice bright color, and maybe that "beam" the runs across the ceiling, too.

Terminology is a huge problem when discussing(or cussing) in person. Adding the impersonality of the Internet compounds the situation. The other fly in the ointment is the differences in local building codes/regulations.

One immediate gotcha for us is the stucco. There are several different ways to apply stucco. And, how were those walls constructed before the stucco was added. The difficulty in finding solid material(studs/plywood sheathing) to which to mount cabinets/electrical components is that it can only be done in that room. How that is built determines how the added components are installed. Base cabinets will be less troublesome, tables not at all a problem.

What you want to do is to simply add several electrical outlets and decorate. Adding lighting wiring is fairly simply---string lighting makes the wiring much easier. Adding electrical outlets/lighting to a room means there needs to be sufficient space in the circuit breaker box for the house. You will need at least three spaces for new breakers, one for the fridge(20A), one for the microwave(20A) and one for the lighting(15A). One way to improve the lighting is to install receptacles along the walls---by code they have to be 12' or less apart. That would allow lamps to be used instead of fixed lighting.

Cole Man's tip about the decorative wiring is the better (least expensive) way to do that. The wiring is enclosed in metal channel material which is fastened to the wall and is exposed---with the wiring inside. There are boxes for receptacles and switches. It can be painted to camouflage it. That wiring needs to be done by a licensed electrician. Here is a representative video:Installing wire mold.